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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945653">Ash VS Gary in The Great Race! Flame Pokémon-athon!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radio_Collar/pseuds/Radio_Collar'>Radio_Collar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:54:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,031</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945653</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radio_Collar/pseuds/Radio_Collar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ash returns to race with Rapidash once more. But this time, Gary &amp; his Arcanine also compete for the trophy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ash VS Gary in The Great Race! Flame Pokémon-athon!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Pokémon episode narrator narrates over the scene...<br/>
<b>"Ah a nice sunny day on a ranch. Oh, what's this, it's Ash, Brock, &amp; Misty!<br/>
They must be here to see ranch handler Lara Laramie &amp; their Rapidash again!"</b></p><p>Ash waves from afar, "Heyyyyy!"<br/>
Lara waves, "Hey Ash!"</p><p>Lara is training Rapidash in an agility course, "Jump!" Rapidash jumps over a low wooden bar.<br/>
   "Good Rapidash!", she feeds Rapidash a treat, a sugar cube, "Why look at the time, it's eat' o'clock. We can go inside for some grub if ya hungry."<br/>
Ash says, "Oh! What do you have?"<br/>
Lara, "Pancakes, jelly-filled donuts."<br/>
Ash, "Alright! I'm starved!"<br/>
Brock, "I want some too!! That's my favorite!"<br/>
</p><p>Lara, "Just a moment, I'll git the Pokémon inside for their afternoon hay."<br/>
Then she calls to her ranchhand Growlithe, "Alright Growlithe, do your thing!"<br/>
"Growl-ithe!", the little puppy Pokémon barks &amp; then runs under the fence posts of the corral.<br/>
Growlithe runs in circles around the herds &amp; then begins to muster every Pokémon into the barn.<br/>
With no time wasted, the Pokémon are all herded together &amp; into their stalls.<br/>
Ash, "Wow. That's cool."<br/>
Misty, "Growlithe's really good at that. What a cutie."<br/>
Lara, "Yeah. They do a good job of it, I train 'em all myself. But the Pokémon really listen to Growlithe."</p><p>Inside the ranch house...<br/>
Lara puts the jelly-filled donuts on the table.<br/>
Brock is confused, "Huh?"<br/>
Misty looks at him, "What's wrong, Brock?"<br/>
Brock, "Everything I know is a lie."<br/>
Ash grabs a donut and eats one, apparently he likes it, because not 3 seconds later he grabs another one and eats it whole.</p><p>They all spend the night over at Lara Laramie's.<br/>
And now it's the morning of the next day, the day of the great race!</p><p>
Some girls are cheering and dancing.<br/>
<b>♫ ♪ ♫ Gary, Gary, he's the one! ♪ ♫<br/>
♪ ♫ ♪ He's going to be the champion! ♫ ♪</b>
</p><p><b></b>"Wooo ♪!", The cheering girls that Gary travels with are here.<br/>
That must mean that Gary is here... but where?</p><p>Ash looks around the racetrack stadium.</p><p>A random stranger points at something in the sky, "Look there! In the sky!"<br/>
Gary flies in standing on the back of a tiny, strong spearow.<br/>
Then he drops down landing on his brown-colored boots, "Yo!"</p><p>Gary says to Ash, "I just got an oil change, maybe you'd like a car ride to nearest Pokémon Center after the race."<br/>
"Gary...", Ash says.<br/>
Gary smiles "Heh heh, Ash Ketchup... long time no see. I thought you had finally given up."<br/>
Ash "Ugh, Why are you here?"<br/>
Gary holds up a Poké Ball &amp; twirls it, "I'm here to enter the big race here with my pal, Arcanine."<br/>
Ash thinks, "Arcanine... uh..." <i>Can I win against his Arcanine...?</i> Ash thinks.<br/>
Gary kisses Arcanine's Poké Ball once; for any of Gary's favorites, he may give their Poké Ball a good luck kiss, anywhere from 1 to 3 kisses.<br/>
Of course the fans really like to see it too.<br/>
"Go! Arcanine!", Gary throws the Poké Ball.<br/>
From an electric blue burst, Arcanine appears, "Arrrrrr! Arc!", it roars.<br/>
Ash greets Arcanine, "Oh. Why hello there, Arcanine! Wow, you're a lot bigger than I remember..."<br/>
Gary, "Heh heh, I've trained them alot since you've last seen 'em. Arcanine has gotten really popular with my fans."</p><p>The cheer girls start cheering and dancing:</p><p><b>♫ ♪ ♫ Gary's, Gary's, Arcanine cheer! ♪ ♫<br/>
♪ ♫ ♪ The fastest Pokémon is right here! ♫ ♪</b><br/>
Arcanine howls, "Awooowooo! ♪"<br/>
<b>♫ Yay! ♪</b></p><p>Ash cringes, <i>Gary must be showing off for the random people watching. I should show off too! ...But Rapidash isn't anywhere nearby...</i><br/>
Ash: "OH YEAH...!?" <i>What do I do...</i> "Uh....."<br/>
Ash remembers something,  "Wait, isn't Rapidash the fastest Pokémon?", Ash brings out his Pokédex from his blue coat pocket.<br/>
Aiming the red electronic book at Arcanine, it finds them &amp; makes a sound. Bing<br/>
Gary: "Arcanine can run at nearly 260 miles per hour, while Rapidash can only dash 150. Top speed."<br/>
Ash: "Excuse me! I asked the Pokédex Dexter, not YOU."<br/>
Dexter: "That information is correct. Ping pong~"<br/>
Gary: "So you're gonna be riding on Rapidash?"<br/>
Ash: "I'm racing with Lara's Rapidash, the current flag-winner of the Laramie Clan's Big P!", Ash boasts.<br/>
Gary: "Oh I see, you couldn't catch a Slowpoke even if you wanted to."<br/>
Ash: "What..."<br/>
The audio-speakers in the stadium start playing music, whatever is currently popular in the Pokémon world.<br/>
Gary "The race is about to start, well smell ya later, Ashy-boy. Ha ha ha!" Arc!</p><p>Ash runs over to Rapidash &amp; Lara, "Ok, I'm ready! I'm ready to race!"<br/>
Lara smiles, "Alright, hop aboard Ash."<br/>
Ash remembers the time when little Ponyta would burn him with their flames from their fiery mane. But now, Ash hops on...<br/>
And the flames are magically prevented from burning him, it's not even very hot.<br/>
"I'm ready...", Ash says.<br/>
Brock: "We'll be cheering for you, Ash.", Brock says standing next to Misty.<br/>
Misty holds out her arms for Pikachu to jump off from Ash's shoulder, "C'mon Pikachu."<br/>
Ash is surprised, <i>I almost forgot Pikachu was on me, oh boy...</i><br/>
"Pikapi, pi kachu!" <i>Good luck, Ash!</i>, Pikachu says.<br/>
Ash nods, "Yeah!"</p><p>Ash suddenly overhears Arcanine flailing about by Gary, "Arc arc! Arrrr..."<br/>
Gary: "Woah, calm down Arcanine, it's just a collar!"<br/>
Ash is concerned,  "Oh..." <i>Is Arcanine ok? They don't wanna wear the collar...?</i><br/>
Although Ash and Gary don't understand Arcanine, the Pokémon is recalling a moment they had in a battle.<br/>
The memory is hazy, as if it never happened, but Arcanine can still recall flashes of it like a dream...</p><p>*******  Gary VS Giovanni Gym Match *******************<br/>
Giovanni asks, "Maybe I should have one more battle? To test out <i>my most powerful Pokémon...</i>"<br/>
With a snap of his fingers, a big door in the back of the gym opened, revealing a Pokemon with shiny metal plates that made it look like it's half machine.<br/>
The unusual Pokémon's eyes began to glow.<br/>
Then Arcanine remembers being lifted into the air with telekinesis and suffocated by crushing psychic powers until they fainted.<br/>
Arcanine later awoke to hear from the safety of their Poké Ball...<br/>
Gary said, "This Pokémon isn't just powerful, it's evil..."<br/>
It was evil, it did the same to Gary, but Gary doesn't seem to remember anymore. He didn't remember Team Rocket's talking Meowth either.</p><p><br/>
******* Back at the racetrack *************************<br/>
Arcanine closes it's eyes and looks away from it's trainer.<br/>
They try and say, <i>This feels too much like that time in Giovanni's Gym match when that evil Pokémon choked me with its psychic powers...</i><br/>
Gary doesn't understand, "You weren't like this with the collar before... why are you acting like this now?"<br/>
Then Gary says something to Arcanine that calms them down, "Please Arcanine. It'll mean a lot to me if you'd race with me against Ash. This might be my only opportunity."<br/>
Arcanine is calm now with the collar on. Arcanine are known for extraordinary loyalty, afterall.<br/>
Gary gets on Arcanine, and then looks at Ash.<br/>
Ash nods to Gary. <i>Let's go. I'll prove to you that my Pokémon is the world's fastest Pokémon.</i></p><p>All the Pokémon riders take their formation at the starting line.</p><p>A competitor's Rhyhorn stirs up the ground with it's feet as if ready to charge. Rhoorn...<br/>
And a Doduo plays with it's reins, biting &amp; pulling at it. Kweh.<br/>
Ash readies himself...</p><p>Announcer:<br/>
<b>"Pokémon get ready..."</b></p><p>"We can do it, Rapidash.", Ash says.<br/>
Gary's Arcanine crouches, putting forward a paw ready to burst into a run.<br/>
And Rapidash's mane flares up with excitement, getting hotter, or maybe Ash is just sweating in anticipation.</p><p>
  <b>"3..."</b>
</p><p>
  <b>"2..."</b>
</p><p>
  <b>"1..."</b>
</p><p><b>"GO!"</b><br/>
Arcanine &amp; Rapidash fly out onto the racetrack at exactly the same time.</p><p>Announcer:<br/>
<b>"There they go!!! Arcanine and Rapidash in the lead!"</b></p><p>Despite the fast entrance of Rapidash, Arcanine powers ahead, gaining extreme speed, <i>Arc!</i><br/>
"Smell ya later!", Gary speeds past.<br/>
Ash gasps "What!?"</p><p>Announcer:<br/>
<b>"Rapidash &amp; Arcanine, some of the fastest Pokémon around!! But will they survive the obstacle course!?"</b></p><p><b>Obstacle #1: 45-degree Uphill Climb</b><br/>
Arcanine despite it's impressive speed stumbles on the incline; it's backfeet keep scraping the dirt.<br/>
Gary needs to prevent Arcanine from scraping-up their paws and remembers a random command they had taught, "Zig-zag."<br/>
Though Rapidash catches up, and speeds past, it's hooves perfect for mountainous terrain. Ash is in the lead now!</p><p><b>Obstacle #2: The River Platforms</b><br/>
They come to a river with floating stone-colored platforms leading out across it.<br/>
Rapidash wastes no time, and hops from platform to platform. Fearless of water, they've done this race many times before as a little Ponyta..<br/>
Arcanine pauses for a second with it's paw up, and sees some dead-ends that lead to open water, so plans it's route before jumping onto them, wasting precious seconds.</p><p><b>Obstacle #3: Speed-Eating Contest</b><br/>
At a rest point in the race are multiple dishes of Pokémon kibble, one dish per Pokémon.<br/>
Rapidash finds a hay-pellet foodtrough and chows down.<br/>
Then Arcanine hops to it's bowl, it wolfs down it's food without even chewing.<br/>
No other competitors are anywhere in sight &amp; they haven't been for awhile. It's like Ash &amp; Gary are racing alone, rival VS rival.<br/>
The two glare at each other from atop their Pokémon, "I'm gonna win." "No, I'm gonna win!"<br/>
The emotional friction of their competitive spirit is enough to ignite sparks between them.<br/>
Arcanine finishes it's food &amp; leaps away.<br/>
Then Ash dashes off with Rapidash to continue the race.</p><p>Announcer:<br/>
<b>"The two lead contenders are reaching the final dash to the finish line!"</b></p><p>Rapidash is running hoof &amp; paw with Arcanine.<br/>
Arcanine sways almost crashing into them, barking, "Bark-arc!"<br/>
The Rapidash is trained to obey the herding Growlithe back at Loremie Ranch... and Rapidash falls back at Arcanine's barks.<br/>
Ash gasps, "Ohno, keep going!"<br/>
"Neigh!" Rapidash whips its head back &amp; forth as if saying "No", slowing down.<br/>
Gary immediately knows what's going on with Rapidash, and he looks at Ash, trying to determine if Ash will figure out a solution.<br/>
Gary thinks confidently to himself, <i> Nope, I've got this win in the bag.</i><br/>
Ash is distraught, <i>C'mon Rapidash.... !</i><br/>
Ash tries to command Rapidash to keep going, "Run faster! Go! It's okay!! Get past that Arcanine!!!"<br/>
Rapidash gallops abit forward, but gets very nervous when Arcanine barks again. "Bark-arc! Growl...", and Rapidash falls behind again.<br/>
Ash watches as Gary &amp; Arcanine continue to run, getting smaller &amp; smaller, "Ohno, we're falling behind..."</p><p>Announcer:<br/>
<b>"Oh looks like Rapidash is losing some steam! Arcanine takes the lead!"</b></p><p>Ash tries calling out commands... "Go! Go faster! Run!" But it's ignored.<br/>
Desparately, Ash calls a rather random command to Rapidash, "Jump!"<br/>
To Ash's surprise Rapidash jumps as it did in the agility course.  Rapidash finally obeyed him!<br/>
Ash's heart is filled with happiness seeing Rapidash trust him so much as to obey him, "Jump!!", Ash says again.<br/>
Rapidash thinks to themself, <i>Maybe I'll get a sugar cube for this...?</i><br/>
Then Rapidash jumps toward Arcanine.<br/>
Ash smiles "Hey Gary!", then he calls to Rapidash, "Jump!"<br/>
Gary is surprised, <i>Maybe he really can train Pokémon...!</i><br/>
Ash continues riding, <i>Thanks Laramie for training them to jump!</i><br/>
Ash laughs as he's winning, "Yeah! Hahaha, woohoo!"</p><p>Ash calls again, "Jump!"<br/>
The jumps become wider and wider, and Rapidash stays in the air for a long time. Ash feels the gravity change as the Pokémon speeds up.<br/>
Rapidash bounds through the air, the surroundings a blur.<br/>
The fire of it's mane feels hotter, and a noise escapes Ash's mouth, "Nnngh..."<br/>
Announcer: <b>"Incredible! Rapidash is flying! Its feet aren't even touching the ground!!"</b><br/>
Indeed, Rapidash is using a force stronger than any Pokémon would do. It flies down the race track like a flaming rocket, stopping only to jump once more.<br/>
"Jump!!" The hooves, hard as diamond, lift off with a supersonic crack.<br/>
Ash hangs on for dear life.<br/>
It's hooves finally fall down again with a clack &amp; gallop, fiery flames burning brighter than before, "...jump... nnngghhh..."<br/>
Rapidash doesn't jump this time...<br/>
Ash holds onto the reins through the burning. "Jump......!"<br/>
Rapidash looks at him with watery red-colored eyes. They wonder why they must jump again, <i>we've already beaten Arcanine! But okay, I'll show you everything I got!! I wish I could see you after this race, but, won't you remember me &amp; this moment?</i></p><p>Rapidash flies up into the air, into the sky.</p><p>Orchestral music plays.<br/>
High up in the air, the wind pushes at Ash's clothes.<br/>
Back at the audience stadium, the TV display shows Ash flying with Rapidash.</p><p>Ash looks around quietly, looking at everything high up in the sky.<br/>
"You jumped this high up for me...<br/>
Thank you Rapidash..."</p><p>The Pokémon reaches the ground eventually, right back onto the dirt track, and near the finish.<br/>
The finish line is in view, and just as quickly Ash is past it.</p><p>
<b>"Rapidash<br/>
is<br/>
the<br/>
WINNER!"</b>
</p><p>The audience erupts into cheering, Yaaaaaay! Woooooo!</p><p>Dust clouds lift up from the track, continuing to envelope the entirety of the field &amp; audience bleachers.<br/>
The audience can't help but stop cheering as clouds of dirt wash over them. They cough abit as the dirt cloud dissipates.</p><p>Rapidash runs around the small stadium racefield making incredible laps trying to just slow down.<br/>
The announcer says excitedly, <b>"I can't see anything, wait- Yep! They're still going!! That is one FAST Pokémon!"</b><br/>
Finally, Rapidash's hooves come to a stop.<br/>
And Ash falls off.<br/>
Misty runs onto the field with Lara following closely behind.<br/>
Misty exclaims exasperated, "Ash!"<br/>
Lara runs to Rapidash, "Woah, Rapidash... I didn't know ya could do that."<br/>
Ash is still on the ground, "That was really something, huh."<br/>
Misty is concerned he's hurt, "Are you okay, Ash?"<br/>
"Yeah, I feel great. Thanks."<br/>
Ash gives a thumbs up to the crowd.<br/>
The crowd cheers.</p><p>Arcanine and their rider Gary, appear out of the dust and run past the finish line.<br/>
Gary rubs the dust off his face with the inside of his purple shirt's collar, "Pfft..."<br/>
Ash sees something familar... "Hey, my hat!"<br/>
Gary &amp; Arcanine walk over, "You dropped this." <i>I know how much it means to you.</i><br/>
The hat is something he won from a TV raffle, it's irreplacable, the official Pokémon Indigo League made the hats &amp; no one can get them anymore.<br/>
He inspects it for damages, but it's in good condition, just alittle bit dusty. Only needs afew slaps to get the dust off.<br/>
"Thanks.", Ash puts the hat on.</p><p>Lara: "That was really incredible, Ash! I knew I could count on ya to win! You're a really amazing Pokémon Trainer."<br/>
Ash: "Aw, sucks. Yeah I guess that I am a pretty amazing trainer, huh? Right, Gary? Right?"<br/>
Gary: "Hmm... about that, Only wild herds of Rapidash have been seen to run like that. I've seen that myself, they'll run at top speeds to out-compete vehicles, at more than 100 miles per hour. But that's typically a wild Rapidash's behavior. I'm not sure you had complete control over your Pokémon."<br/>
Ash: "Oh yeah!? I had control. You're just jealous..."<br/>
The announcer left their post just to greet Ash, "Hey! Poké Masters, go to the podium and get your trophies!"</p><p>The two rivals get their trophies.<br/>
Ash &amp; Rapidash in 1st place; Ash gets a golden trophy &amp; a blue-ribboned medal for their Rapidash to wear.<br/>
Gary &amp; his Arcanine in 2nd place recieve a silver trophy along with a hot pink ribbon medal for Arcanine.</p><p>Gary shakes Ash's hand, "That was a great race, Ash."<br/>
Ash: "Yeah, it was. You and your Arcanine were really close to winning it."<br/>
Gary sighs, "Yeah, I guess so."<br/>
Ash: "Oh, Maybe Arcanine would like to have that collar off now..."<br/>
"Hm. Let me take that off of you.", Gary takes Arcanine's collar off, leaving on the medallion.<br/>
They bristle their fur &amp; shake as if they were a wet dog.<br/>
Gary pets &amp; scritches them, "That's better, huh?"<br/>
Then Gary turns to face Ash, "Well, I ought to get going now."</p><p>Ash asks him, "Where are you heading to?"<br/>
Gary: "I'm going to Fushsia City Zoo in town. My Pokémon are there. I donated 150 Safari Balls of Chansey to the local Pokémon Centers."<br/>
Ash: "That many Chansey!? How did you even catch one!?"<br/>
Gary: "Eh? I don't know, it was easy."<br/>
Gary beeps a little device that looks like a car key remote. Boop-boop<br/>
It manifests a car-sized glow, like the white electricity from Poke Balls, but this time it's just an item from Gary's PC: A red convertible.<br/>
The cheer girls start putting away their get-up &amp; pom-poms, getting in the vehicle, "Oh good I'm sweaty.", an exhausted cheer girl says, "Yeah let's get going, already."<br/>
A cheer girl that's over 18 gets in the driver's seat, putting on some dark-colored sunglasses, "Ready to go, Gary?"<br/>
"Yeah!", Gary turns away from Ash and gets in the car, "Smell ya later." Arcanine hops in the car's backseat.<br/>
Then the engine revs up and they drive away. Vru vru vru vruuuu...</p><p>Ash walks up to Rapidash, who wears a new shining medal, "Man, I'm gonna miss riding you, Rapidash."<br/>
"Purururu..."<br/>
Then Ash walks over to Lara and gives them the trophy.<br/>
Lara smiles, "You should keep the trophy, Ash. I still got the big one from ya last race."<br/>
Ash rejects it embarrased, "Ohno I couldn't."<br/>
Ash didn't train Rapidash, he was just the rider in this race.<br/>
Lara: "It's a trophy ya can look at and remember Rapidash by. Here."<br/>
Ash looks at Lara, Rapidash and the trophy. "Thanks. I'll treasure it. Thanks Lara, Rapidash..."<br/>
Ash looks down, hiding his eyes with his hat, "See ya'...."<br/>
Lara: "I'll be rootin' for ya in the Pokémon League."</p><p>The sun sets over the racing stadium.<br/>
Ash &amp; co. wave goodbye. The shining golden trophy in Ash's hand &amp; Rapidash's new medal reflecting the golden sun.</p><p>________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>
  <b>Meanwhile...</b>
</p><p>Team Rocket are viewing the end of the race on TV...<br/>
Meowth is in front of the TV, "Trophy for the cat, Meoooowth?"<br/>
Jesse: "James, why didn't we try &amp; steal Ash's Pikachu today?"<br/>
James looks down: "I... I..."
 "I stole the funds to spoil my pet Growlie...!"<br/>
Jesse crosses her arms, "And what do we say about stealing?"<br/>
James: "Make it double!"<br/>
.....<br/>
Jesse is angered, "Prepare for trouble!"<br/>
James: "Yowch! Yowch! Stop throwing instant noodles at me! Oooo!"<br/>
Meowth sighs, "Meoooowth, next time spoil me alright?"</p>
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